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Authors: Elizabeth Hanbury
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into her eyes.
She blinked them away, angry with herself and, quite irrationally, at Lord Bramwell. ‘Hurry now, Dominic and take Joshua away. Don’t let him cause any more damage today.’
‘Shall I see you again soon, Lord Bramwell?’ asked Dominic, anxious to extract a promise from his new hero, ‘and your sister, of course.’
Hal chuckled. ‘Have you more creatures in need of rescue then?’
‘Oh, no, I won’t trouble you again in that way,’ said Dominic, ‘but I would like to show you my other pets: I have a few ducks and chickens, although they are kept outside.’
‘If your mother will permit it, Dominic, we should be happy to make their acquaintance some other time.’
Dominic raised pleading eyes to his mother. ‘Will you, Mama? Please say yes! Lord Bramwell and his sister are just the sort of people I like – they aren’t too stuffy to speak to me, and they like Jemima and Joshua. Not like Sir Seymour – he says they make him sneeze and—’
‘Enough, Dominic!’ interjected Isabella hastily. ‘Of course I have no objections, but you must remember that they are very busy and cannot guarantee to see you often.’
‘We shall do our best, Dominic,’ said Julia, ‘and I must say that yours is the prettiest compliment I have received since arriving in London.’
Obliged to be satisfied, he nodded, grinned and left the room, taking his kitten with him.
‘What a delightful child,’ observed Julia. ‘Engaging manners, and quite unaffected – you must be very proud of him, Isabella.’
‘Thank you – I am. Dominic has endured—’ Isabella hesitated , then continued, ‘That is, he is remarkably level-headed and good tempered.’
‘Such an undemanding little fellow on the whole,’ agreed Harriet with an indulgent sigh.
‘Yes, but please do not allow him to pester you, Lord Bramwell,’ urged Isabella. ‘He can be very persistent when he chooses.’
‘I daresay I shall withstand it, having been used to the attentions of four younger siblings, and I will enjoy getting to know Dominic – and you, Lady Vane – a little better,’ he replied, his grey eyes fixing once more on Isabella’s face.
She blushed in response, and when her visitors departed shortly afterwards, she was left to mull over an unexpectedly eventful morning. Dominic had accepted Lord Bramwell without reservation and had obviously enjoyed his company, but Isabella reflected that his lordship had again succeeded in unsettling her; her carefully schooled emotions had been in turmoil since meeting him at Lady Pargeter’s house, and she was alarmed by stirrings of physical response he evoked in her.
Chapter Six
‘I T is not what I wanted, Portland: I asked particularly for a diamond brooch. You forget that I have been used to the finest jewellery and I refuse to manage, as you so charmingly phrase it, even for a short while with this – this trinket.’
Lady Portland addressed this frank statement to her bemused spouse, but it was overheard by several other customers in the genteel, hushed surroundings of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, jewellers to the ton . She was unimpressed with the amethyst brooch that her husband had sought to purchase for her and passed the item back to the astonished manager with a contemptuous flourish.
Lord Portland sighed. ‘Very well, my love – of course, you shall have exactly what you wish but you will have to wait, since Sheridan here tells me that he will need to order to your specific requirements.’ Lord Portland gave Mr Sheridan a glance of pained resignation, a consequence of having suffered his young wife’s displeasure for the third time that morning.
‘Hurry up, then, and give the man the details so we may go to the milliner’s – I am already late for my appointment. I’ll wait for you in the carriage,’ Felicity replied.
Lord Portland gave another sigh and gratefully removed himself from his wife’s environs into Mr Sheridan’s office. Lady Portland
She blinked them away, angry with herself and, quite irrationally, at Lord Bramwell. ‘Hurry now, Dominic and take Joshua away. Don’t let him cause any more damage today.’
‘Shall I see you again soon, Lord Bramwell?’ asked Dominic, anxious to extract a promise from his new hero, ‘and your sister, of course.’
Hal chuckled. ‘Have you more creatures in need of rescue then?’
‘Oh, no, I won’t trouble you again in that way,’ said Dominic, ‘but I would like to show you my other pets: I have a few ducks and chickens, although they are kept outside.’
‘If your mother will permit it, Dominic, we should be happy to make their acquaintance some other time.’
Dominic raised pleading eyes to his mother. ‘Will you, Mama? Please say yes! Lord Bramwell and his sister are just the sort of people I like – they aren’t too stuffy to speak to me, and they like Jemima and Joshua. Not like Sir Seymour – he says they make him sneeze and—’
‘Enough, Dominic!’ interjected Isabella hastily. ‘Of course I have no objections, but you must remember that they are very busy and cannot guarantee to see you often.’
‘We shall do our best, Dominic,’ said Julia, ‘and I must say that yours is the prettiest compliment I have received since arriving in London.’
Obliged to be satisfied, he nodded, grinned and left the room, taking his kitten with him.
‘What a delightful child,’ observed Julia. ‘Engaging manners, and quite unaffected – you must be very proud of him, Isabella.’
‘Thank you – I am. Dominic has endured—’ Isabella hesitated , then continued, ‘That is, he is remarkably level-headed and good tempered.’
‘Such an undemanding little fellow on the whole,’ agreed Harriet with an indulgent sigh.
‘Yes, but please do not allow him to pester you, Lord Bramwell,’ urged Isabella. ‘He can be very persistent when he chooses.’
‘I daresay I shall withstand it, having been used to the attentions of four younger siblings, and I will enjoy getting to know Dominic – and you, Lady Vane – a little better,’ he replied, his grey eyes fixing once more on Isabella’s face.
She blushed in response, and when her visitors departed shortly afterwards, she was left to mull over an unexpectedly eventful morning. Dominic had accepted Lord Bramwell without reservation and had obviously enjoyed his company, but Isabella reflected that his lordship had again succeeded in unsettling her; her carefully schooled emotions had been in turmoil since meeting him at Lady Pargeter’s house, and she was alarmed by stirrings of physical response he evoked in her.
Chapter Six
‘I T is not what I wanted, Portland: I asked particularly for a diamond brooch. You forget that I have been used to the finest jewellery and I refuse to manage, as you so charmingly phrase it, even for a short while with this – this trinket.’
Lady Portland addressed this frank statement to her bemused spouse, but it was overheard by several other customers in the genteel, hushed surroundings of Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, jewellers to the ton . She was unimpressed with the amethyst brooch that her husband had sought to purchase for her and passed the item back to the astonished manager with a contemptuous flourish.
Lord Portland sighed. ‘Very well, my love – of course, you shall have exactly what you wish but you will have to wait, since Sheridan here tells me that he will need to order to your specific requirements.’ Lord Portland gave Mr Sheridan a glance of pained resignation, a consequence of having suffered his young wife’s displeasure for the third time that morning.
‘Hurry up, then, and give the man the details so we may go to the milliner’s – I am already late for my appointment. I’ll wait for you in the carriage,’ Felicity replied.
Lord Portland gave another sigh and gratefully removed himself from his wife’s environs into Mr Sheridan’s office. Lady Portland